You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
Every time I read a new Josephine Tey novel, I end up saying “this is the best one she wrote.” In order that has been – The Franchise Affair, To Love and Be Wise, The Daughter of Time, The Man in the Queue, Brat Farrar (just last week) and now A Shilling for Candles.
Tey writes stellar characters and then writes effortlessly engaging dialogue for them. Other writers also do that; Christie in “Why Didn’t they ask Evans?” and Hammett in The Thin Man, of course. But Tey’s charming witty banter floats on air in a magical way. She’s just so good at it. Grant seems to be a catalyst for that sort of writing from her.
This novel – this needs to be a movie. Or a miniseries. It’s topical for one thing; the meditation on crushing levels of fame is particularly timely. The characters sparkle in a way that just begs to have real humans saying their words aloud.
This particular reprint I have is awful. I bought it years ago when it was the only one available on Amazon. It’s a print of a photocopy, reduced to fit a trim size such that the print is way too small. There are errors in the back cover copy and the biography. The cover art has nothing whatsoever to do with the book.
And despite the almost unreadable typographic problems, the story shines.
Baxter enjoying the cold.
7:55 pm – finished reading An Untidy Affair by M.B. Dabney. Very fun; lots of twists.
TV Watched:
Season 5 episodes of Longmire.
Also sold a number of books on eBay.
11:50 pm – Didn’t do much today except work and stay around the house. In the morning I finished outlining 7 of the 20 anti-trans bills that are going through the Indiana Statehouse. That was draining. Working on documentation for work.
Reading: Stayed up exceptionally late finishing Demon Copperhead. What an extraordinary novel. The narrator voice is fantastic.
TV Shows Watched: Pokerface – first episode, then we discovered we have to pay the premium to buy the rest. Since we just canceled Paramount, we’re unlikely to pick up Peacock. Vera – we’re in the 9th season and the show just seems dark.
7:09 am – breakfast and getting ready for back to work.
5:19 pm – worked on a couple projects for work all day with some short breaks to let Baxter outside and wash some sheets. Sat down to read, ended up watching TV.
1:35 pm – I’ve had a headache this morning, so I’m reading in the library with Baxter hoping it will go away. I’m on page 260 of Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver and I’m still enjoying it. I have plans to run to Midland Antique Mall and see how many empty spaces we have to fill. I’ll probably do that soon. I mailed two of Stephanie’s mom’s paperback books to their new owners (sold on eBay). Incredible Hulk and The Electric Company.
2:30 pm – Midland Antique Mall. I added a couple books to our booth. Walked around and took photos of fun stuff.
They had all these large ledger books from Indiana counties for sale. Fun to look at.
Saw this picture shared on Tumblr in the middle of the night (because what else would I be doing at 3 a.m.?) with the caption “at least we queers have some representation for Christmas, if inadvertent.” Of course I had to track this holiday item down. And buy it. And also locate all the other gay cardinal couples for sale.
In January, I put together a list of books that various far-right protest groups in Indiana were trying to get banned from Indiana school systems in various towns (Carmel, Fort Wayne, Greenfield, Pendleton, Indianapolis). There are a lot of books that have either been challenged or soon will be – 148 titles and counting.
What these groups are doing is taking book titles compiled by a national organization as “inappropriate books” and searching online catalogs or sending people into school libraries or public libraries to see if those books are available. If they are, they report back to one of the local organizations to get a letter-writing campaign from people in that district to protest the books. They’re also sharing books in a couple of facebook groups to get disruptions going on in as many school systems as they can around the state.
The books are called “inappropriate” if they teach about racism, history of marginalized people, LGBTQA+ subjects, immigration, sex education, gun control, sexism… anything that would challenge white male hegemony.
It sounds like these same people are in connected to the legislation going through the statehouse as well – they’ve referenced it.
Some links where I gathered lists of books they are working on banning:
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story – The New York Times Magazine, Caitlin Roper, et al.
The 1619 Project: Born on the Water – Nikole Hannah-Jones, Renée Watson, et al.
#Blacklivesmatter: Protesting Racism – Rachael L. Thomas
10,000 Dresses – Marcus Ewert and Rex Ray
A Big Mooncake for Little Star – Grace Lin
A Good Kind of Trouble – Lisa Moore Ramée
A People’s History of the United States – Howard Zinn
A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches – Martin Luther King
A Young People’s History of the United States: Columbus to the War on Terror – Howard Zinn and Rebecca Stefoff
All Are Welcome – Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman
And Tango Makes Three – Peter Parnell, Justin Richardson, et al.
Antiracist Baby Board Book – Ibram X. Kendi and Ashley Lukashevsky
Ask a Queer Chick: A Guide to Sex, Love, and Life for Girls Who Dig Girls – Lindsay King-Miller
Ask Me How I Got Here – Christine Heppermann
Autoboyography – Christina Lauren
Back to School: Why Everyone Deserves a Second Chance at Education – Mike Rose
Backwards Day – S. Bear Bergman and Kd Diamond
Beautiful – Amy Reed
Berlin Boxing Club, the PB – Robert Sharenow
Between the World and Me – Ta-Nehisi Coates
Beyond the Gender Binary – Alok Vaid-Menon and Ashley Lukashevsky
Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice – Denisha Jones, Jesse Hagopian, et al.
Blankets: A Graphic Novel – Craig Thompson
Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope – Jodie Patterson and Charnelle Pinkney Barlow
Breathless – Jennifer Niven
Brick by Brick – Heidi Woodward Sheffield
Call Me Max – Kyle Lukoff
Call Me Tree / Llámame Árbol – Maya Christina Gonzalez
Calvin – Vanessa Ford, Jr. Ford, et al.
Cemetery Boys – Aiden Thomas
Count Me in – Varsha Bajaj
Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement – Kimberle Crenshaw, Neil Gotanda, et al.
Dead End – Jason Myers
Dear Martin – Nic Stone
Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z – Irene Latham, Charles Waters, et al.
Doing It – Hannah Witton
Don’t Hug Doug: (He Doesn’t Like It) – Carrie Finison and Daniel Wiseman
Don’t Touch My Hair! – Sharee Miller
Drama: A Graphic Novel – Raina Telgemeier
Dreamers – Yuyi Morales
Dreaming in Cuban – Cristina García
Dress Codes for Small Towns – Courtney Stevens
Exit Here. – Jason Myers
Full Disclosure – Camryn Garrett
Full, Full, Full of Love – Trish Cooke and Paul Howard
Gender Queer: A Memoir – Maia Kobabe
George (Scholastic Gold) – Alex Gino
Ghost Boys – Jewell Parker Rhodes
Graceling – Kristin Cashore
Hands Up! – Breanna J. McDaniel and Shane W. Evans
Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi
How to Be an Antiracist – Ibram X. Kendi
How We Fight White Supremacy: A Field Guide to Black Resistance – Akiba Solomon and Kenrya Rankin
I Am Enough – Grace Byers and Keturah A. Bobo
I Am Jazz – Jessica Herthel, Jazz Jennings, et al.
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter – Erika L. Sánchez
I Am Rosa Parks – Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos
Introducing Teddy: A Gentle Story about Gender and Friendship – Jessica Walton and Dougal MacPherson
It’s Not the Stork!: A Book about Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families and Friends – Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberley
It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, Gender, and Sexual Health – Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberley
It’s So Amazing!: A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families – Robie H. Harris and Michael Emberley
Jack (Not Jackie) – Erica Silverman and Holly Hatam
Jacob’s New Dress – Sarah Hoffman, Ian Hoffman, et al.
Jamie Is Jamie: A Book about Being Yourself and Playing Your Way – Afsaneh Moradian and Maria Bogade
Jesus Land: A Memoir; With a New Preface by the Author – Julia Scheeres
Julián Is a Mermaid – Jessica Love
l8r, g8r – Lauren Myracle
Leah on the Offbeat – Becky Albertalli
Let’s Talk about Love – Claire Kann
Let’s Talk about Race – Julius Lester and Karen Barbour
Lexicon – Max Barry
Looking for Alaska – John Green
Making a Baby – Rachel Greener and Clare Owen
Malala: My Story of Standing Up for Girls’ Rights – Malala Yousafzai and Sarah J. Robbins
Marvin Redpost #3: Is He a Girl?
Max and the Talent Show – Kyle Lukoff and Luciano Lozano
Max on the Farm – Kyle Lukoff and Luciano Lozano
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Revised Edition) – Jesse Andrews
Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor – Layla Saad and Robin Diangelo
Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress – Christine Baldacchino and Isabelle Malenfant
My Princess Boy – Cheryl Kilodavis and Suzanne DeSimone
Nineteen Minutes – Jodi Picoult
Not My Idea: A Book about Whiteness – Anastasia Higginbotham
Nuestra Clase es una Familia – Shannon Olsen and Sandie Sonke
Odd One Out – Nic Stone
Oliver Button Is a Sissy – Tomie dePaola and Tomie dePaola
One of a Kind, Like Me / Único Como Yo – Laurin Mayeno and Robert Liu-Trujillo
One of Us Is Lying – Karen M. McManus
One of Us Is Next: The Sequel to One of Us Is Lying – Karen M. McManus
Our Own Private Universe – Robin Talley
Out of Darkness – Ashley Hope Pérez
Perfectly Good White Boy – Carrie Mesrobian
Pink Is for Boys – Robb Pearlman and Eda Kaban
Pinky and Rex and the Bully: Ready-To-Read Level 3 – James Howe and Melissa Sweet
Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag – Rob Sanders and Steven Salerno
Red: A Crayon’s Story – Michael Hall
Rick – Alex Gino
Seeing Gender: An Illustrated Guide to Identity and Expression – Iris Gottlieb and Meredith Talusan
Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation – Duncan Tonatiuh
Sex Is a Funny Word: A Book about Bodies, Feelings, and You – Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth
Sex: An Uncensored Introduction – Nikol Hasler and Michael Capozzola
Shades of People – Sheila M. Kelly and Shelley Rotner
Sissy: A Coming-Of-Gender Story – Jacob Tobia
So You Want to Talk about Race – Ijeoma Oluo
Sparkle Boy – Leslea Newman and Maria Mola
Speak – Laurie Halse Anderson
Stamped (for Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You – Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi, et al.
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-Winning Stamped from the Beginning – Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom – Bell Hooks
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian – Sherman Alexie
The Berlin Boxing Club – Robert Sharenow
The Boy in the Red Dress – Kristin Lambert
The Boy Who Wore a Dress – Ben Franks and Jarrod Becker
The Boys Body Book (Fifth Edition): Everything You Need to Know for Growing Up! (Puberty Guide, Health Education, Books for Growing Up) – Kelli Dunham, Steve Bjorkman, et al.
The Breakaways – Cathy G. Johnson
The Colors of Us – Karen Katz
The Day You Begin – Jacqueline Woodson and Rafael López
The Every Body Book: The LGBTQ+ Inclusive Guide for Kids about Sex, Gender, Bodies, and Families – Rachel E. Simon and Noah Grigni
The Gender Wheel: a story about bodies and gender for every body – Maya Christina Gonzalez
The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas and Nikki Giovanni
The Haters – Jesse Andrews
The Infinite Moment of Us – Lauren Myracle
The Matter of Black Lives: Writing from the New Yorker – Jelani Cobb and David Remnick
The New Queer Conscience – Adam Eli and Ashley Lukashevsky
The Other Boy – M. G. Hennessey and Sfe R. Monster
The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky
The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family – Ibtihaj Muhammad, S. K. Ali, et al.
The Secret Loves of Geeks – Margaret Atwood, Gerard Way, et al.
The Sissy Duckling: Book and CD – Harvey Fierstein and Henry Cole
The Skin I’m in: A First Look at Racism – Pat Thomas and Lesley Harker
The Skin You Live in – Michael Tyler and David Lee Csicsko
The Story of Ruby Bridges – Robert Coles and George Ford
The Story of Ruby Bridges: A Biography Book for New Readers – Arlisha Norwood Alston
The Temptation of Adam – Dave Connis
They She He Me: Free to Be! – Maya Christina Gonzalez and Matthew Sg
They, She, He easy as ABC – Maya Christina Gonzalez and Matthew Sg
This Book Is Gay – Juno Dawson and David Levithan
This One Summer – Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki
Triangles – Ellen Hopkins
Troublemakers: Lessons in Freedom from Young Children at School – Carla Shalaby
Understanding Gender – Juno Dawson
Vampire Academy – Richelle Mead
What Girls Are Made of – Elana K. Arnold
When a Bully is President: Truth and Creativity for Oppressive Times – Maya Christina Gonzalez
When Aidan Became a Brother – Kyle Lukoff and Kaylani Juanita
Where Did I Come From?: An Illustrated Childrens Book on Human Sexuality – Peter Mayle
Who Has What?: All about Girls’ Bodies and Boys’ Bodies – Robie H. Harris and Nadine Bernard Westcott
